Regulating Convergence

The concept of deregulation originally appeared deceptively simple: the lifting or abolishing of government regulations in order to allow markets to work more freely, as posited by classical capitalist economic theory. Proponents believed that government regulations distorted the efficiet working of market. But in contrast to this “deceptively simple” presentation, deregulation turned out to be extremely complex. Indeed deregulation was unable to take place without the creation of new regulations to replace the old. By the mid-1990s, deregulation had become re-regulation.

Technological and commercial convergence compounded this complexity, and the pursuit of the “level playing field” evolved into overarching pro-competitive policies and “economic regulation”. How best to achieve these objectives?